We first proclaimed our infatuation with small batch craft chocolate almost 6 months ago to the day. Since then, we’ve traveled far and wide tasting our brains out.

From hopping on every chocolate factory tour we could find, to soldiering through bitter test batches in our own kitchen, craft chocolate has proved to be a worthy seductress.

Since making our own chocolate is as much about process as it is indulgence, we finally agreed that the grainy rustic chocolate we were inevitably concocting left much to be desired. Unlike cheap, commercially produced chocolate, our bars contain only cacao beans, cocoa butter and sugar. Getting a smooth consistency without the aid of equipment or additives (like soy lecithin — it just sounds nasty!) was nearly impossible.

With the holidays upon us we treated ourselves to an early / nerdy Christmas present, a melanger. The machine contains granite stone rollers that rotate on a granite slab refining the particles of sugar and cocoa to less than 20 microns. In English, it takes our chocolate’s texture from sand to smooth.